Sputtering historically includes generating a magnetic field in a vacuum chamber and causing a plasma beam in the chamber to strike a sacrificial target, thereby causing the target to sputter (eject) material, which is then deposited as a thin film layer on a substrate. Sputtering sources may employ magnetrons that utilize strong electric and magnetic fields to confine charged plasma particles close to the surface of the target. An anode is generally provided to collect electrons from the plasma to maintain plasma neutrality as ions leave to bombard the target. In use, however, the anode becomes coated with an insulating (dielectric) film, and the sputtering process is adversely affected. The industry has attempted over the years to provide sputtering systems that limit the amount of coating that builds up on the anode.
Although the currently available devices and methods are functional, it is desirable to improve power usage efficiencies and/or material consumption, as well as to provide other useful innovations in single magnetron sputtering systems.